Beloved, I am glad to share with you today the above theme from Ps 79:1 and following. Indeed, this psalm conveys the feelings and prayers of the rest of Israel when the nations invade Palestine and desecrate the temple. The faithful lament: they are objects of ridicule and mockery for their neighbors (verse 4; Ps 80.5-8 et Ps 44.12-15). In our countries where the oppression of the past has given way to religious tolerance, mockery remains one of the modern weapons of persecution. The faithful Christian will sometimes be called fanatical, proud or enlightened. We will not escape it if we want to remain separate from the world. However, in addition to enemies from outside, the believer who is not freed may have to deal with accusers within himself. It is the old iniquities that come to mind, because the trial is often the occasion for a painful examination of conscience. Then the soul that feels its misery (end of verse 8) appeals to the compassions from above. “Help us, O God of our salvation! because of the glory of your name… and forgive our sins, for your name” (verse 9). Our position as redeemed is very different, but it is also because of His name, because He is faithful and righteous to His Son Jesus Christ, may God forgive our sins and cleanse us of all iniquity (1 John 1:5-10).
This psalm, it seems, is the echo of the pain of the captives after the capture of Jerusalem by Nebuchadnezzar. But we also read it as an expression of the suffering of the residue on the part of the great enemy on the last day. We can observe that, in their pain, the captives taken to Babylon express themselves in a language that the Jews can make their own until the advent and reign of the Messiah, for the dispensation is the same. For thetime of the nations began with the captivity of Israel and will not end until david’s throne regains, under the dominion of the Messiah, its lost glory. In a sense, the disposition of mind of a pious Jew is the same throughout this dispensation. We find something similar in the history of the Church. Paul speaks in advance of manifestations of evil that will characterize “the last times” and “the last days”; but he tells Timothy about them as if they existed from then on. (1 Tim. 4; 2 Tim. 3) And, in a sense, they did indeed exist, as the same spirit was acting then. To the scrutinizing judgment of the Spirit of God the whole Christian dispensation, as well as the Jewish dispensation, bear the same character from beginning to end.
For this psalm is more particularly the cry of the residue at the darkest hour of his distress, when it will be closely tightened by the Beast (Rev 13) after the murder of the two witnesses (Rev 11). It can be read as the painful complaint of the residue spared after the martyrdom of their brothers (v. 3). For it is these residues, or two parts of the same residue that the Lord has in mind in His great prophetic discourse of Matthew 24. The same distinction is made by the apostle John in Revelation, between those of the faithful remnant of Israel who will be spared and those who will be put to death in those days.
They confess their sin, put their trust in mercy alone, plead the glory of the very name of God, expose to God their opprobrium and sorrow, the unbelief and oppression of enemies, identify their opprobrium with the opprobrium of God, – their cause with His cause. When recalling the cause of the present rejection of the people of Israel, the psalmist or prophets speak of their iniquities and sins, as in this psalm; but, speaking of the same subject, the apostle says of the Jews that “they have not submitted to the righteousness of God” (Rom. 9; 10:3); the meaning of this difference is easy to grasp, and it is beautiful.
O God! the pagans have entered into your inheritance. Here, the prophet, in the person of the faithful, complains that the temple has been defiled and the city destroyed. In the second and third verses, he complains that the Saints were murdered indiscriminately, and that their corpses were thrown on the face of the earth and deprived of the honor of burial. Almost every word expresses the cruelty of these enemies of the Church. When one considers that God chose the land of Judea to be a possession for His own people, it seems incompatible with this choice to abandon it to the pagan nations, so that they can ignominiously trample it under their feet, and devastate it for their pleasure. The prophet therefore complains that when the pagans entered God’s inheritance, the order of nature was, so to speak, reversed. The destruction of the temple, of which he speaks in the second clause, was even less to endure; for thus the service of God on earth was extinguished, and religion destroyed. He adds that Jerusalem, which was the royal seat of God, has been reduced to heaps. These words refer to a hideous reversal.
For the desecration of the temple and the destruction of the holy city, implying, as they did, the bold impiety of heaven, which rightly should have provoked God’s wrath against these enemies – the prophet begins with them, and then comes to speak of the slaughter of the saints. The excruciating cruelty of these persecutions is underscored by the fact that they not only put God’s servants to death, but also exposed their corpses to field beasts, and birds of prey, to be devoured, instead of burying them. Men have always had such a sacred respect for the burial of the dead, that they have hesitated to deprive even their enemies of the honor of burial. Hence it follows, that those who take barbaric pleasure in seeing the bodies of the dead torn apart and devoured by beasts, look more like these savages and cruel animals than human beings. It is also shown that these persecutors acted more excruciatingly than the enemies usually do, since they were no more aware of shedding human blood than of pouring water. From there, we learn of their insatiable thirst for slaughter.
When it is added, there was none to bury them, it must be understood as applying to the brothers and relatives of the killed. The inhabitants of the city were struck with such terror by the indiscriminate slaughter perpetrated by these ruthless assassins on all those who stood in their way, that no one dared to go out. God having intended that in the burial of men there should be some testimony of the resurrection on the last day, it was a double indignity for the saints to be stripped of this just after their death. But one may wonder, since God often threatens the reprobate with this kind of punishment, why did He suffer that His own people were devoured by beasts? We must remember, as we have said elsewhere, that the elect, as well as the reprobate, are subject to temporal punishments that belong only to the flesh. The difference between the two cases lies solely in the question; for God converts what in itself is a sign of His wrath into a means of salvation for His own children. The same explanation must therefore be given for their lack of burial which is given of their death.
The following verses have been compiled for your edification and grouped together for your better understanding.
We are very weakened: help us:
- Desolation of Israel
Esa 24:12 The devastation has remained in the city, and the downed gates are in ruins. Jer 12:11 They reduce it to a desert; He is grieving, he is sorry in front of me. The whole country is ravaged, because no one is careful. Ez 20:26 I defiled them with their offerings, when they made all their firstborn pass-through fire; I thus wanted to punish them, and to make them know that I am the Lord. Mt 23:38 Behold, your house will be left deserted;
- Suffering stigma
Luke 6:22 Blessed will you be, when men hate you, when you are chased away, when you are insulted, and your name is rejected as infamous, because of the Son of man! 1 Tim 4:10 We work, indeed, and we fight, because we put our hope in the living God, who is the Savior of all men, especially believers. Hb 10:33 on the one hand, exposed as if in show to opprobrium and tribulation, and on the other, associating you with those whose position was the same. 1 Pet 4:14 If you are outraged by the name of Christ, you are happy, because the Spirit of glory, the Spirit of God, rests upon you.
- Divine jealousy
Ex 20:5 Thou shalt not bow down before them, nor shall you serve them; for I, the Lord your God, am a jealous God, who punishes the iniquity of fathers over children until the third and fourth generation of those who hate me, Joshua 24:19 said to the people: You shall not have the strength to serve Jehovah, for he is a holy God, he is a jealous God; he will not forgive your transgressions and sins. 1 Kings 14:22 Judah did what is wrong in the eyes of Jehovah; and by the sins they committed, they aroused his jealousy more than their fathers had ever done. 1 Cor 10:22 Do we want to provoke the Lord’s jealousy? Are we stronger than him?
- God’s Compassion
Ex 3:7 Jehovah said, “I have seen the suffering of my people in Egypt, and I have heard the cries of their oppressors, for I know their pains. Dt 30:3 then Jehovah, your God, will bring back your captives and have compassion on you, he will gather you again from the midst of all the peoples among whom Jehovah, your God, has scattered you. Ps 78:38 However, in his mercy he forgives iniquity and does not destroy; He often holds back his anger and does not indulge in all his fury. Jer 12:15 But after I have torn them away, I will have compassion for them again, and I will bring them each back into his inheritance, each in his own country.
From all the above, we note thatPs. 79 relates, in the most obvious way, to the invasion of nations, especially that of the army of the North (Joel 2 relates to a second attack, in which the request of this Psalm is granted; Isaiah speaks of both) who had ravaged Jerusalem and the temple and shed the blood of Jehovah’s worshippers. In this Psalm the ancient iniquities are confessed, and the lord’s tender compassions are implored. The ground put forward is the one invoked in Joel 2. 17, and to which reference is made in Psalms 42 and 43. “Why would the nations say, ‘Where is their God?'” Faith requires that God make Himself known by avenging the blood of His servants. So his people and the flock of his pasture, would celebrate it forever! The wrath of Jehovah is contemplated; there is faith to say, “Until when?” Although the remnant does not enjoy the graces of the covenant, and is even in a completely opposite state, faith has its eyes on these gratuities and sees jehovah irritated against his people; but it is his people; and if he is in relationship with his own, he cannot abandon them. It’s just: “Until when?” However, even then, the cry is addressed directly to God, not to Jehovah. Israel is not restored to its covenant relationship. When he is there, it will be in grace and this condition will never be lost sight of again. This is not the case here: Israel is rejected by virtue of the fact that it has failed under a conditional covenant and, although faith in promises sustains it, it has not yet entered the new covenant; he is outside the blessing, looking back and forward, having nothing now. This is never the Christian position; by placing oneself there and applying the language of the Psalm, one becomes a Jew. For while Christ is hidden above for them, by the Holy Spirit descended upon us while He is there, we know that He is accepted and glorified as having taken our place, and that we are in Him. Our prayers are with you all.
PRAYER OF ACCEPTANCE OF JESUS CHRIST AS LORD AND PERSONAL SAVIOR
I now invite every person who wants to become a new creation by walking in the truth, to pray with me the following prayer:
Lord Jesus, I have long walked in the lusts of the world ignoring your love for humans. I admit to having sinned against you and ask your forgiveness for all my sins, because today I have decided to give you my life by taking you as Lord and personal Savior. I recognize that you died on the cross of Calvary and rose from the dead for me.
I am now saved and born again by the power of the Holy Spirit. Lead me every day to the eternal life that you give to all who obey your Word. Reveal yourself to me and strengthen my heart and faith, so that your light may shine in my life right now.
Thank you, Lord Jesus, for accepting me into your divine family, so that I may also contemplate the wonders of your kingdom.
I will now choose a nearby waterpoint to baptize myself by immersion, in the name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit.
All adoration, power and glory are yours, now and forever and ever. Amen!
I would be happy to respond to any questions and comments you may have, before sharing with you tomorrow ” discipline, repentance and divine help( Ps 38).”
May the Lord Jesus Christ bless you abundantly.
David Feze, Servant of the Almighty God.